NBC caving to “outside” pressure? A very unfortunate quote…

A news organization needs independence from outside pressure for credibility which is its stock and why people watch. That means not succumbing to ‘outside’ influence of any sort, from any source. I suspect it happens all the time but to put it out there like this, by the head of the news division?

The excerpt below from today’s New York Times article about NBC and David Gregory has a very unfortunate quote from the head of their news:

“…What changed, she said on Thursday, was the scrutiny of the show. “Pressure from outside the organization” had been a factor, [President of NBC news Deborah Turness] said. “It made it very difficult for us to continue.”

I am curious — what was the pressure from ‘outside?’ Advertisers? Perhaps….But it would have been better to have said the show is not successful and that the network wants a more successful show than to say caved to outside pressure.